


Aren't Elevators Funny

by KMKH



Category: Fate/Zero, Fate/stay night & Related Fandoms
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Betaed, F/M, Trapped In Elevator
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-03
Updated: 2016-04-03
Packaged: 2018-07-26 00:23:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,497
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7552981
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/KMKH/pseuds/KMKH
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>An unpleasant situation leads to a more honest talk between Gilgamesh and Arturia, employer and employee.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Aren't Elevators Funny

**Author's Note:**

> This was supposed to be part of a much longer story, but it didn't fit its plot - so it ended up as a one-shot.  
> Heartfelt thanks to the amazingly kind Jolanikati who edited this fic :))))

…

...

She caved and sat down on the floor. She had been standing for hours, after all.

She glared at him, seething. “And again – this is _all_ your fault.”

He looked back at her, still standing, haughty expression in place. “It most certainly _is not_.”

Her glare intensified. “It _is_. If you hadn’t tried to kiss me, backing me against the wall, I wouldn’t have had to take an abrupt step back and crash into the elevator’s panel, pushing all the buttons at once.”

He didn’t seem concerned. “If you had _let_ me kiss you, this wouldn’t have happened. Or, if it had happened anyway, we would have been too… occupied to care.”

“Pervert,” she uttered, disgusted.

He grinned. “So, thinking about merely kissing is _perverse_? Or maybe…” he leaned forward, “your impish mind had already skipped past that stage and gone _far_ beyond that?”

She wished her eyes could burn a hole through him, or in alternative spill venom and coat him in it. Not only was she stuck in an elevator – she was stuck with _him_. The jerk.

“Why?” he asked suddenly.

She looked up at him. Was he really asking her why she had refused to kiss him?

Well then. She would tell him.

“Because you’re an arrogant jerk.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Is that all?”

She couldn’t believe him. “Is that not _enough_?”

He gave her a condescending look. “If I apologized, would that change things?”

She gaped. “You… apologizing?”

He tsked. “I said ‘if’.”

She rolled her eyes. “ _If_ you apologized, no, it wouldn’t change things. Because it wouldn’t be an honest apology – you wouldn’t mean it. So don’t bother.”

Then she stood up again. “I know what I am for you. I’m a simple source of entertainment. Well, find another one.” She stared directly into his eyes. “That was the reason I came to your office today. I’m quitting my job at your company.”

For once, he had no reply.

But she wasn’t finished. “I’m done with your arrogance, your impossibly haughty behaviour, your offensive advances and the way you command people around as if they were your slaves or in any way beneath you. I’ve been offered another job, and I’m taking it.”

The silence that stretched was deafening.

Suddenly, he laughed. Harshly. “You can’t mean it.”

The look in her eyes made him stop. She _did_ mean it.

“I’m serious, Gilgamesh. I’m done with you.”

He approached her, enclosing her against the wall. She held his gaze firmly, not intimidated in the least. They stared at each other for several minutes, until he tried to bring up his hand to touch her cheek. She moved to the side and swept his hand away.

Something unreadable flashed through his eyes.

“You hate me.” It was a statement.

She had to be honest. “No. I don’t have such a strong feeling towards you. I simply dislike you.”

He was quite sure that that wasn’t an improvement.

He stared at her, and for once, his arrogance wasn’t present. “Then, I intend to prove that you are mistaken about me. Oh, and I don’t accept your resignation.”

She opened her mouth in protest, but he went on, “I refuse to lose you.”

She returned his look with a firm one of her own. “You can’t lose someone you never had in the first place, Gilgamesh.”

It took him effort, but he uttered, “You’re right.” After those astonishing words, he continued, “Then become mine.”

She narrowed her eyes at him. He really didn’t get it, did he? But again, he didn’t give her the time to speak.

“I never looked down on _you_ ,” he interjected, unexpectedly. Those words flew out spontaneously, without a trace of lie in them.

She huffed. “Yes you do, Gilgamesh. Your behaviour isn’t any less contemptuous towards me than towards anyone else.”

His eyes did not leave her. “On you, I would never look down. As long as you remain true to who you are, you’ll always have my respect… as you already do.”

She didn’t seem particularly impressed. “I’m still quitting, Gilgamesh. You may, with effort, try to prove that you are a better person than who I gave you credit for, but that won’t change your past behaviour. I’m not continuing to work here. You will _have_ to take my resignation.”

His eyes remained on her, and the look in them was so intense that she was ultimately forced to avert her gaze.

Another unidentifiable pause and then he came closer. “What would make you change your mind?”

She was thoughtful, and then, “Stepping out of my personal space would be appreciated, but it won’t change things. You’ll have my resignation on your desk by morning.”

Reluctantly, he complied with her request and took a step back. His eyes scrutinized her a while longer. “You are determined about quitting?”

She looked back at him. “Yes, I am.”

He maintained eye contact with her, before his usually neutral expression settled on a slight frown. She was serious – and he was not one to try to avoid reality. “Very well. I will accept your… resignation.”

She raised an eyebrow suspiciously. That was certainly quick.

But he wasn’t finished. “However, I would… ask you to consider remaining until the end of the month.” A strange light had appeared in his eyes. “Let me use that period of time to show you that I’m not who you first perceived me to be.”

Silence. Unexpected, surprised silence.

He was asking her to remain a little longer, promising her that he was going to behave differently?

Did he think that being nice to her for some days would make her change her mind?

“Fine. It can be arranged, Gilgamesh. But don’t think you can change my mind on resigning by behaving somewhat better. A person’s nature is not easily changed – and during a few weeks, yours most certainly _won’t_ change.”

He gave her an odd smirk. “What if my nature is not what you originally thought it was?”

She stopped in her thoughts, but then brushed that comment aside. “Pretty words are not enough to define a person, so instead of preparing other polished speeches like this one, prove what you consider to be the truth in more convincing ways.”

“Demanding woman,” he remarked. But… why were his eyes holding such a strange look?

Was that… warmth in his eyes?

She lingered on that for a second, before discarding the thought. Impossible.

“Then why do you bother? There are millions of people around. Why do you waste your time with a ‘demanding’ one like me?”

It was more than just a simple question brought forth by exasperation. She wanted his real answer. Why, in fact, _did_ he bother?

He smirked. “Because we are stuck in an elevator together and I have no choice but to interact with you.”

He was such a jerk. He had been lying after all then…

But she couldn’t even complete the thought, because his expression changed suddenly.

“Even if we weren’t in this specific situation, I wouldn’t want to spend my time with anyone else, Arturia.”

She couldn’t hold his gaze, but she still scoffed. “Didn’t I just tell you that pretty words are pointless?”

She probably shouldn’t have said that. He grinned widely.

“Then, how about _showing_ you?”

She took an immediate step back, knowing what he meant. “Don’t you _dare_ try to kiss me.”

He actually seemed curious. “Why not?”

She glared. “Why _yes_?”

He inclined his head slightly, as if lost in thought. “I deeply dislike the fact that I _would_ have a large number of reasons to give an affirmative answer to that question but I can’t say them to you… at least not now.”

She looked at him in confusion. And in that instant, his face transformed.

A small, tiny, minuscule smile appeared on his lips, as his crimson eyes remained glued to her face.

“Not until you really know me.”

And he was suddenly next to her again. “And only… when you will want the same.”

Her eyebrows shot high. Since when did he care about what she thought?

She contemplated him silently. It was true that her dislike of him was quite deeply rooted, and she was going to change job location whether or not he proved to be a better person, but she decided that perhaps, just perhaps, the last days of her employment were not going to be too bad.

That was only going to be true, of course, if he kept his word about wanting to show to her that he wasn’t the insufferable person she considered him to be.

Her perception of him probably _was_ quite accurate. But something in his eyes, in the way he made that promise, told her that maybe… maybe there was more to him than just that?

Well. She was going to find out during the following days at work.

Of course, provided that someone rescued them from being stuck in the elevator first.

...

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading :)


End file.
